X-Men Animated Series > Spider-Man Animated
I always thought for all the warts and flaws that both series had, they were remarkably faithful to the oft-neglected, less popular aspects of the franchise.
For example, what really bothers me about the popular image of
Spider-Man NOW, is how they just tend to focus on Peter and MJ, and completely disregard the Archie-like Pals & Gals nature of the early years of the property --- Harry dating MJ, Peter dating Liz, then they switch girls, and Peter used to date Betty Brant all that hoo-ha, girls and boys swapping partners constantly with various parental figures like George Stacy and JJJ and Anna Aunt Watson, etc.
In the animated series, they touch on that by making Peter's social commitments equally ismportant --- to the point of being melodramatic with cheesy telenovela-like music --- such that we get scenes like Harry poking his finger at Peter's chest saying, "HEY PAL, you stole my girl" like he's some kind of wannabe Reggie Mantle.
With the X-Men animated series, they shift focus away from some of the socio-political hoo ha, the angst of being different and towards some of the high concept sci-fi and international intrigue that comes from a world with thousands of superhumans, such that we have episodes involving cosmic crystals, jungle worlds and Colossus and Jubilee trying to overthrow social turmoil in the former Soviet Union, OMG.